Tanzania Visa

Last checked: 2 October 2026

Most travellers need a visa for Tanzania, visitors from the UK, the US, Canada and the EU included. You apply online at visa.immigration.go.tz, the only official site, and a tourist visa costs USD 50 at the 2026 rate. Fees vary by nationality, so check yours when you apply.

Since 1 October 2026 you also need mandatory Tanzanian travel insurance. You buy it separately, and without it you do not get into the country.

Which visa to apply for

For a safari or a beach holiday, that is the Ordinary Visa, single entry.

There is also a Multiple Entry Visa at USD 100. For most tourists it is meant only for specific cases. US citizens are the exception, and they are issued the multiple-entry visa at USD 100 as standard. Choose the wrong visa and your application is refused.

Check the fee when you apply, because rates change and this page does not update itself.

Zanzibar has no separate visa. On the form you choose where you arrive first, and the same visa takes you to the mainland and to Zanzibar.

Only the official site

The immigration service says it plainly: apply only through the official site, not through other links. There are sites with names that look very similar, which file the application for you, for a fee. The official address is visa.immigration.go.tz, and you can also reach it through immigration.go.tz, under e-services.

How to apply, step by step

1. Log in with your email address.

2. You receive an identification number by email. Keep it safe.

3. Fill in the form.

4. Upload your photo and your documents.

5. Pay with Visa or Mastercard.

6. Submit the application.

7. Wait for the Visa Grant Notice. Only with that in hand can you travel.

The Grant Notice does not guarantee you entry. The immigration officer decides on arrival.

What to upload

1. A colour photo against a plain background, no larger than 45 by 35 millimetres and no more than 500 KB, as a JPG or JPEG
2. A copy of the personal details page of your passport
3. Your return ticket
4. The completed application and declaration form

Four mistakes that get an application refused

From the immigration service's own guidelines:

1. The wrong type of visa. An application for the wrong type, or with missing information or attachments, is refused.

2. A photo that does not meet the requirements. Too large, too heavy a file, or a busy background.

3. Adding children to a parent's application. Every passport needs its own application, a baby's included.

4. A typo. Once you submit, you cannot change anything. Read it all through before you press send.

How long it takes

The immigration service allows ten days. Start at least three weeks before you fly. Every year we see someone try it in the final week, and then the sweating starts.

Visa on arrival

Still possible at the main airports for many nationalities. The immigration service itself recommends applying online, and so do we.

On arrival, after a long-haul flight, you stand in an extra queue while your guide waits for you outside. With your visa already in your pocket, you walk straight through.

Passport and return ticket

1. Your passport is valid for at least six months after arrival
2. It has at least one blank visa page
3. You have a return ticket, which is checked on arrival
4. Children have their own passport and their own visa application
5. If you travel with your child without the other parent, bring a signed letter of consent from them

Yellow fever

You only need a vaccination certificate if you come from a country where yellow fever occurs, or have spent more than twelve hours in transit in one. Fly in through Europe or the Gulf, direct with KLM from Amsterdam or via Doha or Istanbul, and you do not. Via Nairobi or Addis Ababa with a long layover, you do. More on our page about vaccinations for Tanzania.

The order to sort everything in

1. Three months before you fly. Check your passport.

2. Six weeks before you fly. Your doctor or a travel clinic, for malaria and vaccinations.

3. Three weeks before you fly. Apply for your visa.

4. Two weeks before you fly. Buy the mandatory insurance.

5. The day before you fly. Passport, visa and insurance certificate in one folder on your phone, and printed in your hand luggage.

On safari without the legwork

A visa, an insurance policy, a clinic and a passport with enough life left in it. Book with us and after booking you receive an email that sets all of this out in order, with the links included. And when you land at Kilimanjaro, your guide is waiting outside with your name on a board.

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